Dagan
by AttoliaxKonoha06
Summary: Gods were intimidating. Gods were downright creepy. Gods show up at your house out of freakin' nowhere and put a real damper on your afternoon. But if that feeling was anything to go by, they were powerful. Might not be so bad to have an ally like that. Certainly better than making it your enemy. Even if they are imaginary.


**A/N: This story draws from the myths and works on the premise Loki (marvel) and Loki (myth) are too different entities.**

**Though there are several mythological allusions, "The Marriage of Njord and Skadi" might be the most unfamiliar. Incidentally, it is also one of my favorites.  
**

**As always, The Avengers belongs to Stan Lee and Marvel, both Lokis belong to themselves. **

**Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this ****tale **_**"Dagan."**_

* * *

"You know, for someone who's got such a cold personality, I wasn't expecting you to be so into pyrotechnic pranks," Tony complained, putting out the last remaining flames. He was seriously considering installing a better security system, not that he thought it could keep Loki out if he wanted in. Maybe it'd give him a few days at most. Loki sat on a work table behind him, infuriatingly smug look on his face, and shrugged.

"I had thought to take inspiration from my namesake."

"Your namesake?" Tony asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes," Loki answered, and Tony frowned. He had learned quickly you had to ask Loki direct and painfully specific questions or you'd only get answers that ran you in circles, if you got any at all. 'God of being vague and unhelpful' wasn't as catchy as god of mischief but was infinitely more accurate. He wondered how much it would cost to have all mythology books temporarily pulled and name-changed.

Nah, not worth it.

"But I thought you _were_ the god," Tony supplied. "You've got the ego for it."

Loki gave a half-hearted glare as he replied.

"No, merely named in His honor."

Tony gave him a quizzical look and Loki sighed.

"Odin has spent so long convincing all of Asgard they are gods there are few who remember the truth. We are not the gods of your legends, if we are truly gods at all. We may be new ones, perhaps, but not the first ones. Not the real ones."

"So, the horse..?" Tony trailed off, receiving a stern look in turn.

"No, not me."

"Damn, I was so looking forward to family reunions," Tony smiled.

"If you want to meet Sleipnir, I'm afraid you'll have to find Him yourself."

Tony's eyes narrowed into a skeptical squint, searching Loki over for some tell that this was just another set-up.

"Whoa, wait up. You mean you actually believe this crap? I never pegged you as the devout type."

Tony had expected anger but Loki only gave him an unreadable look, something between sorrow and outright pity. It made Tony squirm uncomfortably; he wasn't in the habit of feeling guilty.

"It is not a matter of faith, Anthony," Loki said softly. "They are fact. They are as real as you and I, whether you believe it or not. Only a short while ago you did not believe in us, either. Are Thor and I mere figments of imagination?"

"Well being a dream would explain why you're so unrealistically attractive," he quipped, flashing a grin. Wherever Loki was going with this was not some place Tony was eager to be led. Put a god in front of him, and then maybe, on a day after too little sleep and too much caffeine, _maybe_ he'd believe in it.

Charming Loki usually got him off the hook, but the other man looked right past him, his face one of intense concentration. Tony turned hesitantly over his shoulder, following Loki's gaze to the window sill where a small yellow bird sat, its eyes locked on Loki. Tiny, black and yellow wings. Goldfinch. Tony turned back to the demi-god in search of answers. Loki was often surrounded by black birds, maybe he was switching it up.

"Hey, uh, babe, you pulling some Disney princess shit or something?" Tony studied the other man, watching him and the bird stare each other down. Loki's face gave nothing away and the bird only tilted its head. Tony found the odd angle disturbing, like that chick from The Exorcist.

"Please, don't hurt him. He is an idiot but he meant nothing by it," Loki said, voice flat as if he was discussing the weather.

Tony's brow furrowed in question, his arms folding over his chest incredulously.

"Are you seriously talking to a bird?" Tony asked.

Weirder things have happened. However, given Tony's past experience, weirder usually means bad.

Loki ignored Tony, still watching the bird.

"Loki…?"

The bird turned on Tony so fast he was afraid the thing would fall back out the window. He scooted away from it defensively.

"What?"

The bird turned back to Loki, tweeting and indicating his arm with its beak. He held his hand out to it, fingers spread for it to perch. It tweeted appreciatively before flying over, tilting its head again, its gaze meeting Tony's.

That was when the air in the room decided to be vacuumed out, replaced by a deep, sparking, tingly sort of energy. It felt like trying to breathe smoke, solid and heated. Tony had never felt anything like it, and he hoped he'd never have to again. He could feel his heart racing, chocolate eyes blown wide. Beady ones stared back at him, flickering red and green in the light. Somewhere in his mind Tony could see the same flash: a campfire, the only light bright enough to cut through the night in some primeval forest. The neon colors of mirrored lights in skyscraper windows. Old, old stardust from even older galaxies. The bird's eyes are black and deep enough Tony thinks he could fall through them, fall forever, and it's all he can do to remember to breathe-

"_Dagan," _the bird interrupts, letting air flood back into his lungs. He feels the blood rush to his head, everything becoming dark and sparkly, and he wonders how a bird could talk before it occurs to him it didn't. It was a word without a voice, and with a voice he would remember a thousand years from now. It was a word planted inside his head, by a voice smooth and wispy. It reminded Tony of velvet and rolling mists. He didn't really hear it but he can feel it all the same. An echo with no origin and it fits right in with everything else today that confuses and terrifies him.

"Tony?" Loki calls, the sound in the world turned back on.

And how the fuck can he be so calm with that thing literally touching him? And- actually, Tony doesn't think he's ever seen Loki so at ease. Even on his best days you can see him always half-tense in his skin, but he looks like he's finally at home. Tony knows that look. It's that warm-bed-after–a-shit-day look and Tony wonders if anyone alive has ever gotten that from Loki before. That's enough to bring him back to reality.

The bird tweets again before quickly flying back out the window and out of sight, Loki lifting his arm to release it as it takes off. They watch it fly out of sight and Tony's never been so damn happy to say goodbye.

Tony, in lieu of remembering how to actually talk, gives Loki a familiar look he's perfected for him specially, a cross between 'you have some serious explaining to do' and 'bitch please.' Loki smiles innocently in return.

"What? You called Him first; He answered."

A god. A god in his lab. Like, a real one, not just the pouty, leather-clad one that likes to blow shit up.

Tony's scientific curiosity leaps at the chance to solve even a sliver of the mystery of the afterlife, but the small sense of self-preservation he has forces him to follow the train of thought that won't leave him emotionally scarred and way in over his head.

"What did he call me?"

"Dagan. It means sunrise."

"Why? Calling me flashy?"

"Mm, half right, love. Your people call Him a god of evil, because He brings about Ragnarok; the end of the gods. But that is as inaccurate as any label could be for a god, and that is not what Ragnarok means. It is twilight, not end. Most seem to conveniently forget that after every night there is a dawn. He is a god of change, not destruction. There is always a new beginning waiting at the end. A sunrise. And who would know more about change than you?"

Tony shuddered. He was proud of his moral 180, arms dealer turned superhero. Sure felt better to help people than harm them, he supposed, and showing off was nice. Very nice. But the thought that some other creature could know that about him, could see right through him like that, was unnerving.

"I believe you may have earned His blessing," Loki finished, drawing Tony back.

"So, I'm not gonna get smited? Smitten? Whatever?"

"Smote. Likely not, no."

Tony took a moment to consider that. Gods were intimidating. Gods were downright creepy. Gods show up at your house out of freakin' nowhere and put a real damper on your afternoon. But if that feeling was anything to go by, they were powerful. Might not be so bad to have an ally like that. Certainly better than making it your enemy. Even if they are imaginary.

"Then can I ask him a question?"

Loki looked pleasantly surprised for a moment before his eyes narrowed with skepticism. Tony broke out his best puppy eyes, pretending to be hurt by the lack of trust, however appropriate it might be.

"I cannot stop you," Loki warned. "Though I urge you to pay careful attention to both what you say and how you say it."

Tony held up his hands in a gesture of innocence.

"Right, right, I'll play nice. So, uh, how do I do this?" Preferably without anymore possessed songbirds.

"You need only ask, love. He will hear you."

"Kay, got it," Tony said, tilting his head upwards. His eyes searched the ceiling for any signs of the supernatural. He took in a deep breath and let it out again. A thousand watt grin settled on his face and he made his eyebrows wiggle suggestively.

"So, uh, about the goat thing…"


End file.
